My blog is about an alternative retirement lifestyle – Full-Time RVing. Here you get to follow my travels and see many of the interesting places and people I encounter along my way.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..

Casco Viejo

From my book…”06/19- (Day 170) At Panama City. 6 AM temperature was 82 degrees. At 10 AM, Bud, Julie, Bruce, Maria, and I went in the Bronco and spent seven hours walking around a section of Panama City known as Casco Viejo (The Old Quarters). This is also a Green Tortoise stop. Casco Viejo was established in 1673 as a fortified city by the Spanish, after the pirate, Henry Morgan, looted and burned the original Panama City to the ground in 1671. Casco Viejo is an area of very narrow streets of old Spanish architecture, some beautifully restored, some in a state of disrepair, and some that were bombed during the invasion of Panama in 1989. Some of the places we visited were the grounds of the Palacio Presidencial (the equivalent of our White House in the U.S.), the old cathedral, central plaza, San Jose Church with a huge alter made of gold, and the old Grand Hotel, which served as the headquarters of the French company that started the Panama Canal. Today the Grand Hotel houses the Inter-Ocean Canal Museum. In addition, we viewed a number of other attractions there, which made for a most enjoyable day. We also heard that the businessman (a lawyer) who was kidnapped had been murdered, even after a ransom of $75,000 had been paid. He must have gotten someone really upset! Another pleasant happy two hours at the Elks Lodge.”

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..